Weddington’s ‘go-to guy’ saved dad from burning house at 15 and helped found the town
If you doubt the existence of superheroes, you’ve never met Joe Hudson.
He was born to be the designated go-to guy, whether that meant helping a cousin on the side of Interstate 77 with a trailer full of pumpkins, providing port-a-potties for a rodeo in Mint Hill or saving his dad from their burning home as a teenager.
Hudson used equipment from his garbage collection company to help farmers near his native Weddington give their horses that died proper burials. He often hired people just released from jail because he believed in second chances.
“If you had a problem you would call Joe,” said Nancy Anderson, a relative and former Weddington mayor. “You called, he’d come and help, and all was right with the world again.”
Hudson died Jan. 21. He was 91 and left behind his wife of 68 years Edith “Brad” Hudson, children Jamie, Cathy, Josh and Barbara and countless people who were “very loyal to Joe because he was loyal to them,” Anderson said.
Hudson quietly assisted family, neighbors and church members. But he also took his service to the public sphere: fighting in the Korean War with the U.S. Air Force and serving as a Union County commissioner and in the N.C. House of Representatives, where he introduced Bill 597 to incorporate the town of Weddington. The act took effect in 1983.
He called himself a Blue Dog Democrat, but made sure to tell people he had “friends that are Republicans, too,” Anderson said.
Life-changing event
Hudson was 15 when he saved his father Richard from a fire that burned the family’s home to the ground. Both father and son sustained injuries — Richard was badly burned — but they recovered.
That fire, which Hudson wrote extensively about in a journal, defined him, Anderson says, because of the way the community came together to help the family.
“It was a life-changing event. The family was now homeless,” Anderson said. “He came from a very giving family, so it was in his blood. But when something like that happens to you, and the entire community comes around you, it shapes who you become. That’s what happened with Joe.”
Hudson grew up in Weddington on the family farm, where he and his siblings picked cotton, shucked corn and milked cows. He kept in touch with farm workers and their families throughout his life and helped them when they needed.
After finishing high school in Waxhaw, Hudson went to Wingate College, which offered only two-year degrees at the time. He then joined the U.S. Air Force, serving for four years during the Korean war. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Queens College, which is now Queens University of Charlotte.
Jamie Weiss, his oldest daughter, said her dad was always open to new things and supportive of all of his children.
“He was such a presence,” Weiss said. “He was just a really unique person. I had the pleasure of living close to him most of my life.”
Hudson’s life goal: give back
Hudson loved sports, especially baseball. When he left the Air Force, he coached youth baseball teams, welcoming players of all races during a time when schools and churches were segregated.
“It’s Weddington,” his wife Brad Hudson said. “We had no problem with everybody playing together. Sure, they were separated in schools, but outside of school? Everybody knew everybody. They played together their whole lives.”
Hudson founded his garbage collection business in 1972. The business grew to include septic services and port-a-potty rentals in Union, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus and Stanly counties. It operated for more than 50 years, according to Hudson’s obituary, before he decided to close it in October 2022.
Hudson helped fellow farmers with burying their farm animals, Anderson said, and never charged them. He only asked that they contribute to Misty Meadows Mitey Riders, a program in Waxhaw that provides therapeutic horseback riding for children with special needs.
“He gave back to everyone,” Brad said. “All he wanted to ever do was help people. He’s going to be missed. Definitely.”
A prankster with a goofy sense of humor
Mickey Ellington, a Mint Hill Historical Society board member, had a close friendship with Hudson for 20 years, calling him a gentleman with a kind demeanor and good spirit.
The pair’s friendship led to Hudson’s love of the historical society’s efforts to preserve the history of Mint Hill, about 12 miles away from Weddington.
“When asked if he could help provide (port-a-potties) and trash removal for the Mint Hill Historical Society’s rodeo, Joe volunteered his portable restrooms and willingly delivered the garbage truck for the event,” Ellington said. “For many years the rodeo has been a huge success because of men like Joe.”
Other friends and family members, who posted on an online tribute wall, remembered Hudson as hard-working and fair. He was a prankster, goofy with a great sense of humor.
“Uncle Joe was my summer time vacation as a boy, and usually my go-to guy when I wanted to get into a little mischief on the farm,” Robert Sise wrote. “As an adult, Joe was the life of the party at Sunset Beach vacations over the last four decades, but he never let me forget about watering those dang soybeans.”
